翻刻
安永之末鶏鳴の頃西に当て火の如成星見
ゆる天明の始の頃宵の明生ゟよ程後れて
金銀の色成光り甚き星出し事有之天明ニ
年寅の春ゟ浅間山折々焼出し五月の頃より
たび〳〵強く七月日夕方ゟ大焼にて同八日の
夜より夥布鳴動し天地も崩る如く其響
き四国九州まて震動し上野石砂ふり吾
妻郡馬大変にて｜火（日）を歴て漸々焼静れり
此年夏ゟして冷敷強く耕作一切にみのらず
信州上野両国大｜飢饉（キキン）にて白米壱升代
弐百文の餘に付こぬか壱升三十弐文又は
五拾銅くらひに売買籾種壱表百廿四又
百五十文蕪の干葉百文に付弐れん抔と云へる
程の飢鍋（ケヤチ）ハ八十才百年の老人迚も未聞伝
と云る程に葛の根-薇蕨（ワラヒ）の根を掘て
食事となし木の葉草の葉を指て糧と
現代語訳
安永の末、鶏が鳴く頃に西の方角に火のような星が見えた。天明の始めの頃、宵の明星よりもかなり遅れて、金銀の色をした光の非常に強い星が出たことがあった。天明二年寅の春から浅間山が時々噴火し、五月頃からはたびたび激しく噴火し、七月一日の夕方から大噴火となり、同八日の夜からは激しい鳴動で天地も崩れるかのようで、その響きは四国・九州まで震動し、上野国には火山灰が降り、吾妻郡では馬が大変な被害を受け、何日も経ってようやく噴火が静まった。
この年の夏から寒さが厳しく続き、農作物は一切実らず、信州・上野両国は大飢饉となって、白米一升の値段が二百文余りとなり、米糠一升が三十二文または五十文ほどで売買され、籾種一俵が百二十四文または百五十文、蕪の干し葉は百文で二連ほどという具合であった。
このような飢饉は八十歳、百歳の老人でさえ未だかつて聞いたことがないと言うほどで、葛の根や蕨の根を掘って食事とし、木の葉や草の葉を指して食料と
英語訳
At the end of the An'ei era, around cockcrow, a fire-like star was visible in the western direction. Around the beginning of the Tenmei era, considerably later than the evening star, an extremely bright star of gold and silver color appeared. From the spring of Tenmei 2 (1782), year of the tiger, Mount Asama occasionally erupted, and from around May it erupted violently repeatedly. On the evening of July 1st it became a major eruption, and from the night of the 8th there was tremendous rumbling as if heaven and earth would collapse. The sound caused tremors as far as Shikoku and Kyushu, volcanic ash fell on Kōzuke Province, horses in Agatsuma District suffered greatly, and only after many days did the eruption gradually subside.
From the summer of this year, the cold became severely intense, crops completely failed to ripen, and both Shinshū and Kōzuke provinces experienced great famine. The price of one shō of white rice exceeded 200 mon, one shō of rice bran was traded for 32 mon or around 50 mon, one hyō of rice seeds cost 124 or 150 mon, and dried turnip leaves cost about 2 ren for 100 mon.
Such famine was so severe that even 80- and 100-year-old elderly people said they had never heard of anything like it. People dug up kudzu roots and bracken roots to make meals, and pointed to tree leaves and grass leaves as food.